Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 ezell_pike Sep 23, 2005 14:52:07	[INDENT]Magical items are an important part of fantasy settings. When utilized [/INDENT] properly they can contribute significantly to storytelling. Considerable depth can be added to a given campaign, by using a few methods to define magical items. • Give them names: A memorable name for an item gives it a value greater than the sum of its parts. • Give them history: When an item is tied to the history of your world it gives your players a link to the past. It brings to the fore a feeling of immortality. You are now part of the history of this item and the events it has helped shape. • Related to a character concept: Living up to the original concept of a character is sometimes a daunting task. This method increases the player’s confidence and can lead to further development of the character. • A special or unique ability: This technique lends greater definition to an object or setting. Serge stood his ground as the wraith slid silently into the guttering torchlight. His grip on “Spiritedge” tightened. With a grim smile he slashed, feeling the blade bite into his spectral foe… This is by no means an exhaustive list of things that can be done to add flavor to magic in your campaign. It was used to in my most recent homebrew and it yielded very positive results. I will add more as the time to do so becomes available.
#2 zombiegleemax Nov 22, 2005 12:03:25	Not just magic items can be given history... Tasha's Hideous Laughter for example, a funny spell that can give your players a laugh, whether willing or not. But imagine how much cooler it would be to find a scroll from an ancient Chaos God, the scroll, while damaged, contains enough information for The Wizard PC to piece together his own varity, "Galstaff's Terrible Joke" Also the free use of certain metamagic feats can encourage imagination among your spellcasters, The Magic of Faerun, includes 2 good feats for this, one that allows you to change the damage type for No spell slot increase .(So a character who make use of Ice spells can still use Fireball.) The other feat allows you to add a "Theme" to all your spells, Screaming Skulls, Huge Cats, Flowers, this is also has no cost to Spell slots, giving the Spellcaster something to imagine in his spare time. Customization is everything, in my mind, a DM should use magic items to help a character customize himself into the adventurer he wants to be. No good DM gives an evil assassin a +5 Holy Great Axe.
#3 zombiegleemax Dec 02, 2005 11:18:40	I think these are great ideas to use in a low-magic campaign. However, in a typical D&D game, there are far too many magic items for this to be effective. In the typical game, this is what Artifacts are for. Or so it seems to me.
#4 zombiegleemax Jan 14, 2006 19:25:12	Also the free use of certain metamagic feats can encourage imagination among your spellcasters, The Magic of Faerun, includes 2 good feats for this, one that allows you to change the damage type for No spell slot increase .(So a character who make use of Ice spells can still use Fireball.) The other feat allows you to add a "Theme" to all your spells, Screaming Skulls, Huge Cats, Flowers, this is also has no cost to Spell slots, giving the Spellcaster something to imagine in his spare time. The Spell Thematics feat not only gives a nice visual bit of flavor, it also makes the caster's spells harder to identify. Also, it allows for the caster to increase the caster level for a select few spells. All of this comes at no spell slot cost. It's a nice little feat that provides a nice little bonus. My Kobold Sorcerer will be enjoying flinging Electro-charged fireballs (a standard fireball, but it bursts out with electric sparks instead of simple flames).